June 8, 2011

Orioles have been unable to trade Fox; outright waivers appear likely

The Orioles have had conversations about trading Jake Fox, who was designated for assignment last week, but they haven’t been able to find a deal and it now appears they are left with having to pass him through outright waivers.

The 10-day mark for them to make a decision on Fox is Saturday. However, it takes 48 hours for a player to clear waivers, and there are no waivers over the weekend. So that means the Orioles had to trade him by this afternoon or put him through waivers.

Teams cannot comment on the waiver process, so I can’t be completely sure that Fox, who hit .188 with two homers and four RBIs in 19 games for the Orioles this season, is currently on the waiver wire. However, there doesn’t appear to be a trade involving him at this point, so it seems pretty safe to make that conclusion.

The Orioles now risk losing Fox for nothing as any team could claim him. Their failure to trade him is an indication that they didn’t receive much interest in the right-handed hitter because the Orioles wouldn’t have asked for much in return, knowing that they could lose him for nothing anyway.

A team would be much more likely to claim Fox than trade for him. If Fox clears waivers -- which I wouldn’t say is likely by any means -- the Orioles would outright him to Triple-A Norfolk.

Comments

Outrighting Fox has been somewat been a foregone conclusion anyways, no?

Fox is actually a pretty useful player who plays a bunch of positions, but he needs regular ABs to make him effective. He reminds me of Ty Wigginton when he was playing with the Pirates, and trying to get a shot to play everyday. It's there where once Ty got regular ABs he blossomed into a pretty productive player.

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Jeff Z's reply: No they could have traded him. It was possible that one team that might be low in the waiver order could offer the Orioles a low-level minor leaguer and call it a day.

JEFF please consider this if the brewers consider trading fielder in july why don't the orioles consider seeing if they could get a package together that would not cripple the organisation.. Allowing him to get comfortable with the orioles couldn't hurt their chances to sign him and save them a 1or 2 in next years draft plus if they did lose him they would probably get a #1 and a supplemental pick added next year.. It all depends on the packge they ask but his value knowing he could leave in a few months should not be as high as the off season would have been.. JUST a thought what do you think ???

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Jeff Z's reply: First of all, it wouldn't surprise me if the Brewers stay in it and don't trade Fielder at all. Second of all, I see little chance that Fielder would agree to an extension before a trade to the Orioles. And it would be absolutely asinine to give up the amount of talent it's going to take to get Fielder unless you know that he's going to sign an extension with the club.

to piggyback Prince Fielder alittle i think ppl like Scott5mill Lee7.5mill Vladdy8mill thats around 21million coming off the books possibly if they add 5-7 mill to that money they have a shot at prince in the off season but they also need to sign adam and guthries too but i hate hearing for the past 14 years how we poor and cant afford good players yanks and bosox both have 1st basemen so its not gonna be a serious bidding war for him spend sum more money pete angalos aka da grinch who stole baseball i didnt forget ur cheap @$$

I totally agree about the playing time. No one can get into a rhythm when they don't get a chance to play on a regular basis. That's like having a basketball player sit on the bench the whole game and then telling them in the 4th quarter with 5 seconds left to go in and hit a 3 pointer to win the game. Probably not going to happen. Give Jake a chance! He led the MLB in homers during the preseason when he actually got a chance.

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About the bloggers

A Baltimore native, Dan Connolly has been covering sports for 14 years, and baseball and the Orioles for 10 seasons, including the past six with The Sun. His first year covering baseball on a daily basis was Cal Ripken Jr.'s final season as a player. It's believed that is just a coincidence.

Steve Gould is an assistant sports editor for The Sun, overseeing Orioles coverage. The Columbia native joined The Sun as a sports copy editor in 2006 after graduating from the University of Maryland.

Peter Schmuck has been covering baseball for a lot longer than Steve Gould has been on this earth. He is now a general sports columnist, but has been a beat writer covering three major league teams (the Dodgers, Angels and Orioles) and also spent a decade as the Sun's national baseball writer. If you want more of his insight on the Orioles and other sports issues, check out his personal blog -- The Schmuck Stops Here.